LovSan worm alert - but don't panic

An Australian IT security expert today said that there was "no need to panic" about a new worm, dubbed LovSan, which is infecting computer networks by exploiting a flaw in Microsoft Windows.

The virus - called LovSan because of the message that it leaves on the message it leaves on infected computers - "I just want to say LOVE YOU SAN!" - is the first worm, or automated process, to target the Windows flaw.

However, according to David Banes, Symantec's regional manager of security response, users can download a patch from the Microsoft website and reboot their computer to fix the problem.

"There is no real excuse for being caught out, everybody just needs to keep patching their systems with the download that Microsoft has made available," Banes said.

"There is no real need to panic. The worm has a high distribution but it's not a high payload."

While admitting that Symantec has received numerous calls from clients whose networks have been infected, Banes doubted that the LovSan virus was the beginning of a wave of attacks designed to exploit the Windows flaw.

"I don't think it's a wave, usually one of these comes along but we are able to keep up to date with any future attempts to exploit the software - you just need to keep downloading the patch and make sure that your anti-virus software is up to date."

"We've seen individual attempts to exploit this flaw with hackers testing their code manually but this is the first instance of a worm trying to exploit the Windows flaw."

"Still it's not very dangerous, it may cause some crashes but it won't affect the data."

Banes said that he did not know the origins of the worm but once the initial process of handling customer support was finished, Symantec would be conducting closer analysis of the worm.